Wake Up Call
by Fairyfights
Summary: Sometimes all we need is a little wake up call to realize what we truly want. For Freddie, that wake up call comes in the form of a smooth-talking, fudge-making guy who's a little too interested in his best friend. Futurefic.
1. The Question

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.

A/N: Follows canon until before the Seddie arc.

* * *

It is definitely an odd sort of feeling, knowing that he won't be seeing much of his mother from now on, Freddie Benson decided. After years and years of torturous coddling from Marissa, he was finally deemed old enough to move out of his mom's apartment and into his own—at least his and his two best friends'.

It's not as if his mother had a choice anyway, it's either get a place close to university or face one bitch of a commute. And for once his mom proved to be quite reasonable. She even allowed him to live with his two very beautiful, very _female_ friends, granted there is little to no chance of any romantic scenario happening between any of them—they'd just been friends for too long.

"What took you so long nub," a brash female voice interrupted his train of thought, "and what are you doing standing there stupidly staring at the road?"

"Nice to see you too Sam," Freddie greeted, smiling at the blonde despite her somewhat rude welcome.

"Carly and I are all moved in. Unpack your stuff so we can check out the neighborhood. Although, being seen with you probably won't let me and Carls get a good first impression," Sam said as he nibbled on a strip of beef jerky.

"Go with Carly first, I'm sure you're itching to see what food this place has to offer. I'm gonna take some time unpacking, but I'll be right there with you soon enough," Freddie said as he started to gather his possessions.

"Suit yourself. Just a heads up, you got the worst room," Sam smirked, clapped his shoulder and ran off to get Carly.

* * *

"What's taking him so long?" Carly quipped as she examined her fingernails.

"Geez relax, he probably just got one of those nasty professors who gives a lecture on the first day."

"Still, we've been waiting for 30 minutes and I really want to go to that vintage clothing store!"

"Why don't you go ahead then, it's near enough, we'll fetch you by car later," Sam suggested, both to relieve Carly of her impatience and to get out of having to accompany her as she looks at 'cute dresses and skirts'.

"Really? You'll wait by yourself? You're awesome! See you then!" Sam could never comprehend how she could possibly do it as she saw her best friend sprint in the highest pair of heels towards the street where the shop was located.

After waiting for about ten more minutes, Sam finally saw Freddie approaching towards her. She hopped up from her leaning position on the car and shouted, "Dude! What's up with the lateness? Come on, we got a Carly to fetch."

"Sorry, got a long lecture in my last subject. Oh, this is Brad by the way, we go way back at Tech Camp and he's one of my classmates, isn't it cool?" Freddie mentioned animatedly.

The tall boy with brown hair smiled warmly at Sam who had only just noticed his presence. Barely shooting a glance at the new acquaintance, Sam said with a perfectly straight face, "Yeah, I can barely contain my excitement. Let's go!" Taking the keys from his hand, she let herself inside the car and switched on the radio.

"Sorry about that, she can be a bit… well you know. See you tomorrow then?"

"Yeah," Brad muttered distractedly, "gorgeous girlfriend by the way," he added.

"What? No, she's not a girlfriend! One of my best friends, but definitely NOT my girlfriend," Freddie laughed.

"Oh, it's okay if I… I mean you're not interested in…" Brad trailed off.

"Nope, no definitely not! No that would be really weird," Freddie said with a shake of his head.

"I don't see why, I mean, like I said she's gorgeous. But, all the better for me then! See you tomorrow dude," Brad said with a wave of his hand and walked away.

Freddie stood transfixed, that is, until he heard an agitated shout and several loud honks, "yeah, yeah I'm coming!" And with a shake of his head, he proceeded to drive his car out of the university parking lot.


	2. The Message

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.

A/N: Follows canon until before the Seddie arc.

* * *

"I swear, she's the most beautiful thing I've seen since forever," Brad muttered as he poured more sugar into his fudge batter, "and that includes celebrities."

"Seriously, you've been here one day and you're already limiting your choices? You're in California dude, this is like the hot girl capital of the world," countered James, a blond, muscular guy who also happens to be Brad's roommate. "Plus, if she's so hot, how come your friend isn't into her?"

"I dunno, he says it'd be weird. Which works for me, I'm thinking he could help me get a date with her, or at least a proper introduction."

"Never seen you this interested in a girl before," James said as he observed Brad move about their tiny kitchen, "I need to see this chick, don't you have any pictures?"

"Right, 'cause the first thing I do when I meet someone is take photos of them," Brad said as he flung his worn out blue apron toward the counter and moved to join James on the couch. "You got homework already?" Brad asked as he motioned to James' laptop.

"Nope, just checkin' the Fatebook page of this girl I met earlier. She's pretty hot too. Hey!" James shouted as he punched his friend lightly on the shoulder.

"What," replied an annoyed Brad as he rubbed his probably bruised shoulder.

"Maybe we can find your 'gorgeous' girl on Fatebook. You said her name was Sam Puckett right?"

"That's the name Freddie texted me," Brad said as he scooted toward James to look at his computer screen. "That's her!"

James clicked on the girl's profile immediately. "Hot damn!"

"Told ya. Check her other pics," Brad instructed.

"Can't, it's for her friends only. Hey, why don't you add her up? Or maybe I should add her up and…"

"Shut up," Brad said as he grabbed the laptop and logged in to his own account. He searched for Sam's profile again and hovered his cursor on the 'add friend' button.

"Well, what are you waiting for? There could be bikini pics in there!" James muttered impatiently.

"I dunno man, she barely even looked at me when Freddie introduced me to her, and now she finds me stalking her on Fatebook? Doesn't it seem a bit desperate?"

"Dude, you're befriending her online, not proposing marriage, just click on the button!"

And Brad did.

* * *

"Hey, a guy named Brad just added you up on Fatebook," Carly said, briefly glancing at her best friend who is currently devouring what Carly assumes is some meat product. "Oh, he's cute!"

"I don't know anyone named Brad, so unless he's Brad Pitt, don't accept that," Sam replied casually as she continued to eat while flipping through channels trying to find a decent show.

"But he's super cute! Maybe he's in one of your classes and he thought you were pretty so he found you on Fatebook. Aww, that's so sweet," Carly said as she clicked on the 'accept' button.

"Only you would find that sweet," Sam laughed.

At that moment, Freddie emerged from his room, stretching his hands over his head and walking towards the couch. "Finally finished my homework. Seriously, who gives assignments on the first day?"

"Hey! I was watching that!" Sam said indignantly as Freddie snatched the remote from her and switched to another channel.

"Yeah, well you can watch it if you get this from me," Freddie smirked as he ran away holding the remote control. Sam proceeded to chase him after a while, encumbered by the fact that she had a huge bucket of chicken wings on her lap.

"Give it back!" Sam shouted. The pair continued to run about the living room, completely oblivious to Carly saying, "You could change the channel through those buttons on the TV too you know."

Carly sighed. She was used to her friends' antics, but she wouldn't mind not having to see or hear them at it sometimes. Ping! She was distracted from watching Sam and Freddie by the sound that alerted her of a new message for Sam. It was from the cute guy!

"Hi, I don't know if you remember me, but I was the guy who Freddie introduced to you in the parking lot earlier," the message read.

Carly looked up from the computer screen to her two friends. Freddie was now holding up the remote control while Sam was jumping up and down trying to get it from him. Freddie looked delighted. Sam looked livid. In times like this she really wouldn't mind if someone else could break up their petty squabbles. Pity Gibby couldn't be in Cali too. Maybe she should find another Gibby, she pondered as she continued to watch Sam who was now pouting and pounding Freddie hard on the chest. Or maybe… How long has it been since Sam had an actual boyfriend?

Carly smiled to herself and proceeded to type out a response to the cute guy. "Hey, of course I remember you, you're the cute guy in the parking lot ."

Carly glanced at her best friends again who are now both rolling on the floor, still fighting for possession of the remote control. She knows she might get in trouble with Sam for this later, but right now, she honestly believes that she'd be doing both of them a favor.


	3. The Confession

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.

* * *

Sam tugged her jacket closer to her body as a harsh wind blew upon the steps she was sitting on. She glanced at her phone, noting the time, and was now seriously regretting her decision to wait up until Freddie's final class finishes. It's not like their place is too far away, but waiting for Freddie definitely has its perks. First, it saves her the effort of walking or the money to spend for the commute. Second, and most importantly, he always, always, no matter how grudgingly, buys her dinner. But as she felt her stomach grumble and as another chill attacked her body, Sam thinks that waiting for Freddie today was not her best idea. She was glancing down at her phone again to see how slowly the minutes passed when she heard an unfamiliar voice call her name.

"Hey! Glad I caught you," the owner of the voice panted, "I thought you would have left by now. Sorry I'm late."

Sam stared at him for a moment, until finally, "who the heck are you?"

The guy looked a bit surprised at her reaction, but answered her nonetheless, "it's me, Brad. We talked over Fatebook yesterday?"

Sam raised an eyebrow as she replied, "sorry dude, I never talked to anyone online yesterday." But as she said this, Sam seemed to think that this guy looked a bit familiar.

"Um, but you did," he insisted. "I added you up after Freddie introduced us yesterday, and then we chatted for a bit. You told me to meet you in front of this building, and that you," he paused, looked at the ground and with cheeks tinted pink added sheepishly, "remember me as the cute guy from the parking lot."

Sam stared at him dumbly, trying to figure out what this guy could have possibly ingested to be babbling such nonsense. He was about to tell the guy to buzz off when a fragment of last night's events flashed into her mind—Carly going on about some cute guy who added her up on Fatebook and then apparently directly ignoring her words as she flirted with the guy, on her account! Bestfriend or not, that girl is gonna get some Puckett lashing when she gets home.

Apparently, Brad noticed the obvious anger on her face as he backed off a bit and said, "look, I'm sorry for this misunderstanding. I could've sworn it was you that I added and talked to, but—"

"It's not your fault," Sam cut him. On seeing his confused face, she then proceeded to explain, in great detail, what Carly had done and by then end of her explanation, an amused Brad was chuckling at her distress.

"Wow. Can't say I've ever had a friend who was that interested in my life," Brad said laughing.

"Ugh. Interested is weak term. She's obsessed. With anyone's life really, but most especially mine. She's probably thinking that I'd be happy that she got me a date with you or something," she grumbled.

"Aren't you?" Brad asked, as nonchalantly as he could manage.

Sam looked caught off guard by his question. She didn't think he'd still push the date idea after she had explained about Carly's antics.

"Um, well, don't get me wrong, I don't think you're hideous or something, it's just that I'm not really interested."

"Oh," Brad said, trying to hide his disappointment, "anyone you like?"

For the life of her, Sam could not fathom what it is about this guy that made her spill out what she had been successfully hiding from everyone for years, but it was definitely with an easy gait that she answered, "Yeah, you know him actually." Sam looked both relieved and burdened that she had just admitted this out loud, if that was even possible.

A flash of recognition crossed Brad's face almost instantly. He smiled ruefully to himself. Honestly, a bunch of girls throwing themselves at him back in high school, heck even here in his first few days at college, and the one girl he's actually interested in seems to be _in love_ with someone who just yesterday had vehemently denied any sort of attraction to her.

"I see," he responded after a while. "And how's that going?" He wasn't trying to be mean. Really. Okay, maybe a little, he'd just been dumped for this guy after all.

Sam gave out a bittersweet smile. "It's going nowhere. He's in love with my other best friend. Has been for years actually. I'm pathetic, aren't I?"

Okay, he didn't mean to be that mean. But he hadn't expected that answer. Of course he'd heard of Carly before, a pretty girl that Freddie had a crush on, but those short stories didn't give him the impression that he was in love, and the last he'd heard of her was quite some time ago too. Still, Sam knows Freddie a lot better, so he offered the only thing he could, "Sorry about that."

Sam looked at him, a curious expression on her face. "Hey," she said poking him a little too forcefully on the shoulder.

"Yeah?"

"We could be friends," she said smiling widely and the stopping as she took in Brad's blank expression. "I mean, if you want to, although I get how it could be potentially weird," she added hastily.

Brad laughed. "Well, you do seem like the perfect person for me to have a weird friendship with."

Suddenly, Sam wasn't regretting her decision to wait for Freddie at all.


End file.
